PACS has been around in France since 1999, so for many of us it's nothing new. In Switzerland, until now, the legal situation of couples is reduced to two options: either you get married, with all the consequences that implies, or you live in a concubine, which legally is almost nothing. A commission of the Council of States has just launched a public consultation on a project to create a third way, in the image of what has already existed in the cantons of Geneva and Neuchâtel for more than twenty years.
The idea is an “enhanced cohabitation”: an officially registered union that would give concrete protections during life together, such as mutual assistance obligations, representation against third parties, protection of the family home, and facilitated access to each other's medical or administrative information. What would not include: tax effects (you would not tax as married), automatic inheritance rights or recognition of children. In case of separation, the process would be simple and quick, without judicial procedure.
This is quite relevant for Spaniards who live here as a couple without getting married. Today, if your partner is admitted to the emergency room and you arrive later, in many hospitals you are simply no one officially. A federal PACS would change that. The consultation is open until 17 September, then it will go to Parliament. If it ends up being approved, Switzerland will have its own model, and will be one of the few countries in Europe without a PACS that finally incorporates it. For those who already know the French system, there will be important differences that should be understood before assuming that it works the same.